Free Republic

National Baptist Convention organizers shrank the room by one-third after fewer people turned out than expected to hear Hillary Clinton. Frank Morris, national correspondent for KCUR, tweeted a photo showing a worker moving walls to shrink the meeting room in Kansas City. "Workers cutting down the room by a third with lower than expected turnout for (Clinton in Kansas City) speech," Morris reported.

The first ever openly lesbian Miss America contestant took the stage for the first time during the second night of the preliminary competition on Wednesday. Miss Missouri Erin O'Flaherty, 23, strutted her stuff during the swimsuit competition and spoke about National Suicide Prevention Week during her on stage question. Miss Maryland Hannah Brewer and Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields won the night's preliminary contests in the swimsuit and talent portion. Brewer won the swimsuit competition, while Shields nabbed the talent portion after jazz dancing to They Just Keep Moving The Line, a song from former NBC show Smash. 'We were just...

<p>When Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer two years ago in Ferguson, Mo., Darren Seals was one of the most vocal activists leading protests across the city. He rallied a boycott of Democratic candidates in local elections after he said they failed to protect black lives. And on the day a grand jury declined to indict the Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson, Seals held Brown’s mother in his arms as she sobbed.</p>

One of Missouri Governor (D) Jay Nixon’s most visible actions against Second Amendment rights was his veto of the gun reform bill SB 656.  SB 656 contains a number of common sense reforms to restore Second Amendment rights and protections for people who legitimately engage in self defense.  From the NRA-ILA Recognize Missourians right to Constitutional/Permitless Carry where open carry is not prohibitedExpand Missouri’s current Stand your Ground lawsExpand Castle Doctrine protections for anyone legally allowed into your home, vehicle, business and propertySpecify that except for credit card fees incurred, no additional fee beyond $100 may be charged to...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —A new poll shows Donald Trump expanding his lead in Missouri, but incumbent Republican Sen. Roy Blunt continues to be in a close race for re-election. Public Policy Polling, a firm that does a lot of work for Democratic candidates, said its poll shows Trump with a 6-point lead over Hillary Clinton in Missouri. The survey of 1,055 likely voters has Trump leading 47 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided. Two other recent polls had Clinton within one point of Trump in Missouri. The website Real Clear Politics rates Missouri a toss-up, even though a...

Report: Mizzou head coach prohibits players from legally owning handguns. Missouri head coach Barry Odom Missouri football coach Barry Odom has instituted a team policy that prohibits his players from owning handguns, according to Matthew Stevens of The Montgomery Advertiser.Stevens reports that Odom does not want his players owning handguns, even if they're obtained legally, while they are members of the Mizzou football team.However, Odom clarified that guns used for hunting are separate from the team policy. While many schools prohibit handguns on campus, Mizzou football seems to be the only program that specifically prohibits owning a handgun as a...

How would you grade Jay Nixon on his terms as governor of Missouri? A chance to thank the Famous Democrat Gov of Missouri with a vote. Grading is easy. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is closing in on the end of his second and final term in office. How has he performed? How would you grade Jay Nixon on his terms as governor? A B C D F http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/pulse/poll/how-would-you-grade-jay-nixon-on-his-terms-as-governor/20462772

ST. LOUIS • A 70-year-old woman was driving to church Sunday morning when three men pulled up alongside her in a Monte Carlo with Illinois plates, according to Dionne Flowers, alderwoman from the city's 2nd Ward. "What's up OG, don't get too hot," the passenger in the back seat said before hurling a Molotov cocktail into the woman's SUV, according to Flowers, who spoke to police and people who were at the scene. It exploded, and fire torched the inside of the woman's car. She managed to escape with no injuries with the aid of Larry Middlebrook, a St. Louis...

Anheuser-Busch expects to cut some 3% of its combined workforce after it has acquired rival SABMiller, according to takeover documents published on Friday. That would be some 5,500 jobs, according to a source with information on the offer. AB is aiming to achieve pre-tax savings of at least $1.4 billion per year within the four years after completion of the takeover through increased efficiency, sharing best practices and the removal of overlaps in corporate and regional headquarters....

The University of Missouri’s (MU) flagship Columbia campus has officially lost a staggering 23 percent of its freshman class this year, an even worse figure than administrators initially predicted in the wake of major racial strife.

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump is leading Hillary Clinton by a single percentage point in Missouri, according to a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday. The survey found that 44% of voters support Trump, while 43% back Clinton, well within the poll's margin of error of 4.9 percentage points. Another 8% of respondents told pollsters they intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson, 1% said they would write in another candidate,and the remaining 5% were undecided.

Sorry if this has already been posted, but I did a search and couldn't find it, here's the add ... Eric Greiten - Big Guns ...

A Missouri mother is charged with arranging the killing of two teens who witnessed her son kill another boy, KMOV reports.The update in the case comes nine months after charges were originally dropped against Tyrell Davidson, the suspect in the September 2013 St. Louis killing of 16-year-old Chauncey Brown. Now Davidson’s mother, along with three others, is being charged in connection with the deaths of the two witnesses in the case.Davidson was accused of killing Chauncey, who had attended a teen party at Club 187 the night of his death. Prosecutors say that Chauncey and his friend James Moore were...

Former Navy SEAL officer Eric Greitens won the Republican primary for Missouri governor Tuesday after a hard-fought race in which he cast himself as a conservative outsider willing to use his military bravado to blow up perceived corruption in government. Greitens prevailed over another self-described outsider, businessman John Brunner, and a pair of more experienced Republican leaders — longtime Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and former Missouri House Speaker and U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway. He will face Attorney General Chris Koster, who easily won the Democratic gubernatorial primary, in the Nov. 8 general election. The Missouri governor's office will be open...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV.com) - The tight Republican race for governor will become a little clearer after today as voters head to the polls for Missouri’s primary elections. Some are calling this the tightest Republican governor race in the state in two decades. All four candidates have spent a combined $22 million campaigning. But even after all of the work, the race does not appear to have a clear-cut leader. The candidates include businessman John Brunner, Navy Seal and non-profit CEO Eric Greitens, former Speaker of the House Catherine Hanaway, and current Liuetenant Governor Peter Kinder. All four candidates have...

CARBONDALE, IL - A Carbondale police officer was last reported in serious condition after being shot late Sunday evening. The Carbondale Police Department says around 11:38 p.m., officers were on patrol in the 700 block of North Robert A. Stalls Street when they determined gunshots were being fired. While driving toward the source of the gunshots, they saw a tan four-door car driving away from the scene. The officers started to pursue the tan car. During the chase, a suspect fired several gunshots from the tan car. The shots hit the police car and one of the officers inside. The...

SIKESTON, Missouri — On a Friday evening in late July, Catherine Hanaway stood before 50 attentive citizens of a small town in southeastern Missouri—men in slacks and sneakers, women with nicely done hair. Her 6-foot-tall frame swayed slightly as, with her usual frankness, she made a spirited case to be the next governor. The country is breaking down, the former federal prosecutor told the group gathered in the newly opened headquarters of the local Republican Party—police ambushed and murdered in Dallas, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Ballwin, Missouri—three shootings and eight dead in 10 days. As people nibbled cupcakes topped...

Missouri Democrats face an uphill fight to sustain Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill eliminating training requirements to carry a concealed firearm. Same goes for another bill Nixon vetoed that would require voters to provide a government-issued photo ID before being allowed to cast a ballot. Complicating their efforts is the fact that their all-but-certain nominee for governor supports both bills. Attorney General Chris Koster, who faces only token opposition in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary to replace term-limited Nixon, said he saw no reason to veto the wide-ranging gun bill.

So much time between now and then.

SurveyUSA pollsters: "Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #23077 ... In the 11/08/16 General Election Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton 47% to 37% today, in interviews completed during and after the Republican National Convention and before the beginning of the Democratic National Convention. Trump leads, as expected, among men. But Trump also leads Clinton, though narrowly, among all state of Missouri women. When just suburban women are examined, Clinton is 8 points atop Trump. In the Bootheel, Trump leads 3:1. In the Ozarks, Trump leads by more than 2:1. In Northern MO, Trump leads by almost 2:1. Only in greater Kansas...